Mindfulness
6 essays on mindfulness.
- September 16, 2026Why Your Bow Shakes When You’re Nervous (and What Actually Helps)
A shaking bow has two sources — one from trying too hard, one from adrenaline — and what fixes one does nothing for the other. How to tell them apart, and the one in-the-moment move (a pause, placed before the hard thing) that keeps stage nerves from becoming a train wreck.
- September 9, 2026Beta Blockers for Performance Anxiety: What They Fix, and What They Don’t
Beta blockers work — the tremor never arrives. But they only mask the symptom, never the meaning that set off the alarm. What they fix, what they don’t, and a two-minute polarity meditation that clears the fear at its root.
- September 2, 2026Why Trying to Relax Makes You More Tense on Stage
A fiddle player who plays at fifty percent on stage taught me why commanding yourself to relax backfires: you aim the same tight, narrow attention at your tension. The way out isn't more focus — it's spacious awareness. Try the needle experiment.
- July 27, 2022Mind-Body Interlude #6 — “2% Easier”
Hello friends! Here's the next installment of my invitation for feedback on the material from my upcoming book, Soulforce Arts: The Vital New Role for Musicians & Artists in a World That's…
- May 2, 2022The most powerful spiritual practice I've ever encountered - 32/100 Days of Soulforce
The most powerful spiritual practice I've ever encountered is what I call, "Asking the Mystery for Help." It's based on the ancient principles of gift, offering, and sacrifice (although you don't need…
- February 24, 2022"The Doing Mode vs. The Receiving Mode" - 100 Days of Soulforce #14
One of the keys to understanding how to release excess tension in performance and practice is the difference between the "Doing Mode" vs. the "Receiving Mode." In the "Doing Mode," it feels…